1958 in British radio

This is a list of events from British radio in 1958.

Events

• 29 March – The first averaged BBC Top 20 chart is broadcast on Pick of the Pops.
• 1 April – BBC Radiophonic Workshop created.
• 22 April – "Sunday Afternoon at Home", one of the most famous episodes of the radio comedy series Hancock's Half Hour, is broadcast on the BBC Light Programme for the first time.
• 2 July – The first radio ballad, The Ballad of John Axon, created by Ewan MacColl, Peggy Seeger and Charles Parker, is broadcast on the BBC Home Service.
• 28 August – Anton Bruckner's Symphony No 4 is performed at the BBC Proms, the first complete Bruckner symphony to be played in the concert series since 1903.
• 29 September – The BBC Light Programme's broadcasting hours are extended once again, now going on air 30 minutes earlier, at 6:30 a.m.

Programme debuts

• 17 July – The Flying Doctor on the BBC Light Programme (1958–1963)

Continuing radio programmes

1930s

• In Town Tonight (1933–1960)

1940s

• Music While You Work (1940–1967)
• Sunday Half Hour (1940–2018)
• Desert Island Discs (1942–Present)
• Family Favourites (1945–1980)
• Down Your Way (1946–1992)
• Have A Go (1946–1967)
• Housewives' Choice (1946–1967)
• Letter from America (1946–2004)
• Woman's Hour (1946–Present)
• Twenty Questions (1947–1976)
• Any Questions? (1948–Present)
• Mrs Dale's Diary (1948–1969)
• Take It from Here (1948–1960)
• Billy Cotton Band Show (1949–1968)
• A Book at Bedtime (1949–Present)
• Ray's a Laugh (1949–1961)

1950s

• The Archers (1950–Present)
• Educating Archie (1950–1960)
• Listen with Mother (1950–1982)
• The Goon Show (1951–1960)
• Hancock's Half Hour (1954–1959)
• From Our Own Correspondent (1955–Present)
• Pick of the Pops (1955–Present)
• The Clitheroe Kid (1957–1972)
• My Word! (1957–1988)
• Test Match Special (1957–Present)
• The Today Programme (1957–Present)

Births

• 29 January – Linda Smith, comedian (died 2006)
• 12 February – Michael Fenton Stevens, comedy actor
• 22 February – Gordon Kennedy, Scottish actor and director
• 3 May – Sandi Toksvig, Danish-born British comedy performer
• 14 May – Jan Ravens, actress and impressionist
• 29 June – Mark Radcliffe, radio broadcaster
• 30 July – Liz Kershaw, presenter
• 21 September
  • Simon Mayo, presenter
  • Penny Smith, presenter
• 7 October – Emily Buchanan, radio & tv journalist
• 5 December – Shaun Prendergast, actor
• 11 December – Pete Mitchell, presenter (died 2020)

See also

• 1958 in British music
• 1958 in British television
• 1958 in the United Kingdom
• List of British films of 1958
• O'Gorman